Dont know if it is against the rules or not but they let them in! One year this cute little blondie about 5 years old delighted in cruising up and down H and 5 o'clock. She had half the burners in love with her. The rest of the block was still unbelievably cool about her being there and everyone kept an eye on her. Her parents were neat too. They decorated the car so she had an "art car" (It had a long dragging tail and bunnie ears with a wind-up key). It was fun, but one of the parents was always within 30 feet of her and paying very close attention.

Since we had power and they didnt, her Barbie Hot Wheels wound-up parked in our camp every night, as did Mom and Dad. Mornings we did mickey-mouse pancakes for her and advil for the parents when they came to collect their recharged vehicle.

My vote? If you have one, and will watch your kid, BRING IT. And decorate the heck out of it. And bring a spare battery. It seemed to be a great way to make new friends.

"To sum up my compassion level, I think we should feed the unwanted animals to the homeless. Or visa versa. Too much attention and money is spent on both."(A Beautiful Mind)

Burningman has a surprising list of rules. Especially about vehicles that are not powered by pedals. Strictly within your village, maybe the rules would not be enforced. But given the vast possibilities for engagement and diversion for children at the event, is this an essential one? Would your children understand the limits and rules? Potential crushing disappointments abound. Do not bring.

some seeing eye wrote:Burningman has a surprising list of rules. Especially about vehicles that are not powered by pedals. Strictly within your village, maybe the rules would not be enforced. But given the vast possibilities for engagement and diversion for children at the event, is this an essential one? Would your children understand the limits and rules? Potential crushing disappointments abound. Do not bring.

Life has a surprising set of rules. Like "nazi-minded people who want to enforce order upon the newbie masses should leave the little kids out of their aspirations"

Seriously. Lighten up. Half of the burn is drunk, stoned, altered, unlawfully happy or is sleeping with someone elses husband/wife/siggy other/poodle. And you want to rain on some kid for having a little fun?? For real?

Tell you what. Wait until the little nipper is having a safe, fun burn and then call a ranger. Tell them that little five year old is "violating the terms and conditions found in the Burning Man survival guide and is therefore a serious danger to law, order, decorum, and the spirit of concentration camps throughout history". Demand a written report and escalate to the Pershing lads.

While you are doing this, I will be be playing peek-a-boo with this hardened criminal and waiting for her arrest. And tweaking her batteries, because you just never know when some munchkin may need to bust a move and rabbit from da cops.

(sarc aside. Some Seeing Eye may have a point. But if it was me, I would bring it!)

"To sum up my compassion level, I think we should feed the unwanted animals to the homeless. Or visa versa. Too much attention and money is spent on both."(A Beautiful Mind)

An important question that hasn't been asked. Is the PowerWheel for a kid or for you? If its for a kid around camp you'll probably get away with it, If its for you to ride around Burning Man it will get impounded.

The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair.

Yep, technically any non-human- or wind-powered vehicle needs DMV licensing which requires sufficient "mutation".But if it's for a little kid, I can't imagine anyone having a problem with it. And hell they only go about 2 miles per hour. If you happen to be my neighbor I'd run you a cord to charge it.

GreyCoyote: "At this rate it wont be long before he is Admiral Fukkit."Delle: Singularly we may be dysfunctional misfits, but together we're magic.

Yep, technically any non-human- or wind-powered vehicle needs DMV licensing which requires sufficient "mutation".But if it's for a little kid, I can't imagine anyone having a problem with it. And hell they only go about 2 miles per hour. If you happen to be my neighbor I'd run you a cord to charge it.

GreyCoyote: "At this rate it wont be long before he is Admiral Fukkit."Delle: Singularly we may be dysfunctional misfits, but together we're magic.

Anyway...No one wants to be a hard-ass about a child's toy. But there's the rules and people who interpret and enforce those rules. Just so there's no surprises at the Gate and gnashing of teeth if it gets impounded. There's a chance it won't fly. Being prepared is knowing what is and is not allowed.

When in doubt about a vehicle on the playa, contact the awesome folks at dmv@burningman.com and I'm sure they'd be happy to let you know. Child-sized vehicle vs. full-sized vehicle may very well have a different set of rules (as they do in Defaultia).

I like the idea of mutating it, that could end up being a great art project for parents and child to work on over the summer (either mutating the existing body or building a mutant chassis to put onto the vehicle's frame for use on the playa). I've seen some cool mutant wagons that parents towed behind bicycles, my favorite was an elaborate pirate ship with the two kids on board dressed as pirates. No idea whether I just happened to catch them on pirate day, or their parents were forcing/letting them dress like pirates every day of the event so their matching outfits would match their transportation (you know there are parents out there who'd do that).